St. Croix Native Wins Gold At Bowling Tournament In Florida

The Virgin Islands Bowling Federation recently sent teams to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to compete against a number of other countries in the 55th Annual Tournament of the Americas.

Representing the territory in the adult men’s category were Charles “Richie” Richards and David Johnson, both of St. Croix. However, the big winner for the USVI at the finals, which took place on Sunday, was St. Croix native Caren Andrews, who currently resides in Florida.

Mrs. Andrews won a number of medals and awards in the tournament. She won the gold medal in the adult women’s singles, besting two bowlers from Canada who won the silver and bronze medals. This helped propel her to winning the silver medal in the adult women’s all events, barely missing the gold medal by only 9 pins.

Mrs. Williams also won a medal for having the highest three-game series of all of the adult women. Finally, she was voted over all the men and women adult bowlers to win the Friendship Award.

“Caren’s performance at this tournament shows that the Virgin Islands can compete on the world stage and bring home the gold,” said Mr. Johnson, an owner of St. Croix-based Cane Bay Partners VI, LLLP. Mr. Johnson, who served as the Virgin Islands delegate for the tournament, is also vice president of the Virgin Islands Bowling Federation.

“This week we also received great news that due to their performance at the recent Junior Gold tournament, three of our youth bowlers La’Monique Berrios and Dylon Schjang both of St. Croix and Rodante Moorehead who currently lives in Georgia have been invited to compete to qualify for Junior Team USA! It is exciting to see all the hard work and training is paying off for bowlers here in the Virgin Islands,” added Mr. Johnson.

Other countries competing in the tournament with men’s and women’s teams in a number of age-based categories were Aruba, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Curacao, Dominican Republic, United States, and Uruguay.